Prayer Day here at CIU...the result:

“Object of His Mercy”

We walk the shore in silence our steps in sync. In every other stride naturally brushing against one another. The sun propped above the vast water holds a soft glow. The waves gently crash as the water runs up to meet my toes. I look up to my left and ask Him why. “Why is it that the water seems so wide, that the beach never ends, that my shins scream in pain, why can’t I be carried?” His dark eyes stare back into mine and for a second I think He is about to answer but His soft lips remain loosely shut. I can feel His eyes wandering within me. My body goes heavy; His brow goes soft with compassion as His gaze spears my heart. In defense I lurch forward grabbing his forearms, a thud is heard as we hit the ground. My hurt overwhelms me as I wrestle with Him turning over and over, as the cold earth beneath us does not budge. My face scrunches confused as to what emotion to portray. My heart bleeds from His pierce. My body convulses knowing my core is collapsing. But clenched white hands grip his arms remaining in place as we tumble in a fast spin. He turns me over one last time as my head hits the shore. My cheek is spattered with sand as if it were blood. And my core is pushed hard, trying to sink beneath the unmovable grit. My scratched knuckles on His arms the only thing keeping me whole. Tears start to roll mixing with the grain of my face, His composure full of compassion, and His brow now showing mercy. Wrenching my hands from His arms he places them in His and with a steady voice speaks as I lay there on my back—broken, tears coming from the overflow of my pierced heart. “Have you seen the shells that we passed as we walked? Some you have stopped to admire and take for others to see. Their immaculate beauty and their swirling curves I have made for your eyes to gaze at, for your soft hands to touch. You are running well, but do you see the hope I have laid before you? It will not always be like it is now. The waves will slow their pace and the wind will blow to another side, just as the birds only leave for a season, so for you too this will be but a chapter. Do not see this as winter because now it is spring.” A faint smile escapes His face as if He sees something I do not. My face turns loose and my eyes are commandeered with a peace, not all too sure why His lips do curve. Sand now warm beneath me, I lie still, as He shifts His left hand to prop up His head. Lying on His side He looks down the beach where we have not yet walked, and once again His face is painted with a slight smile.

Lauren Whatley
April 15, 2008

“What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory” Romans 9:22-23

“Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the house of the Lord: ‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale. When they see among them their children, the work of my hands they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of God of Israel.’” Isaiah 29:22-23